Tips roll in for amnesia victim; no ID yet

An amnesia victim -- who's been searching for his identity for five years and recalls being in Boulder -- might have been a manager at a University Hill restaurant, according to recent tips that have come in since the Camera and other Colorado news outlets reported on his plight.

Several people who spent time in Boulder in the late 1970s or early 1980s have said they remember the unknown man working at Round the Corner -- an eatery that used to have three locations in Boulder.

Colleen Fitzpatrick, a forensic genealogist who's been helping the man since February, said none of the tipsters remember the name of the employee that resembles the amnesia victim.

"But several people said they knew him as a manager there," Fitzpatrick said.

The unknown man -- who goes by "Benjaman Kyle" -- was found around Aug. 31, 2004, naked and badly beaten behind a Burger King in Richmond Hill, Ga. Kyle was rushed to a hospital, where he remembers nurses joking that they couldn't call him John Doe, because they already had one. They called him "Burger King Doe" instead, and the fast-food chain's initials inspired the moniker that Kyle now goes by.

Since a Camera story about Kyle published on Sunday, Fitzpatrick said, she has received about a dozen solid leads. One tip even produced a name that, for a moment, seemed to fit.

A man contacted Fitzpatrick earlier this week with memories of Kyle coaching his daughter's softball team.

Advertisement

He said the coach worked at Round the Corner, and he happened to have a group photo of the restaurant staff, Fitzpatrick said. Names of people in the photo were written on the back of the picture.

The person resembling Kyle more than 20 years ago was identified as Ken Minkoff. The tipster sent the photo to Fitzpatrick, who said, "Sure enough, the guy looked like him."

At the same time, Fitzpatrick said, another tipster who had read about Kyle and seen his picture said, "I think I remember the name of this guy. It's Ken Minkoff."

But after further investigation, Fitzpatrick said, she learned that someone has been in contact with Minkoff in the past six months, ruling out Kyle as being the same person.

Fitzpatrick said she was bummed when the Minkoff lead fell through, but she's still following up on tips that Kyle was a manager at Round the Corner, where he recalls spending time. Fitzpatrick is in contact with the restaurant's founders, who are compiling a list of managers they remember.

And, Fitzpatrick said, FBI agents are following another new lead that a man named Greg Bailey knew Kyle when he was in Boulder. Bailey came to Boulder from a town in northern Indiana -- an area that Kyle also remembers in detail, Fitzpatrick said.

Kyle, speaking form Georgia on Wednesday, said he doesn't recall working at Round the Corner, but he remembers the atmosphere and he remembers the Fox Theatre and the Flatirons Theater up the hill.

Kyle said he tries to push himself to remember things about his life.

"But I get confused and frustrated," he said. "I really think that if I could just let it lay, my memory would come back. All this trying to force it to come back doesn't help. But, then, I can't really let it lay, because I can't do anything. My life is in limbo."

Kyle is staying at the home of Katherine Slater, a nurse who's been advocating for Kyle since she met him in 2007. He does odd jobs around her house because he can't get real work without a Social Security number.

Kyle's advocates said they would like to get Kyle to Boulder at some point to see if being here jogs his memory.

And, as hopeful as some of the recent tips have been, Slater said, "I think (Kyle) is kind of numb to everything."

"I once asked him, 'How come I get more excited about these leads than you do?' and he said he can't afford to," Slater said.

When a person works on something for as long as they have, Slater said, "It feels like one failure after another."

"After a while," she said, "that beats on your morale."

Archived comments

Just print that he won the lotto and all sorts of people will know him, girls too and he will have kids.

Dr_Hal

7/8/2009 12:57:59 PM

I'm sorry, I didn't get your name. I got yours, Vincent, right? But I didn't get yours...

dmc714

7/8/2009 1:09:59 PM

I can save everybody a lot of trouble. Without a doubt, he's Paul Stookey from Peter Paul and Mary.

http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/252/15224599.jpg

donwrege

7/8/2009 1:18:04 PM

I bet he wishes they would of remembered him as being a brain surgeon instead of working at a fast food joint.

rungreger

7/8/2009 1:42:59 PM

"Posted by donwrege on July 8, 2009 at 1:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I can save everybody a lot of trouble. Without a doubt, he's Paul Stookey from Peter Paul and Mary."

LOL.

I used to go to Round the Corner in the 80's on Thursday nights for cheap 3.2 beer. I don't remember him....but then again, I don't remember much from those Thursday nights...

IXLR82

7/8/2009 1:43:22 PM

how does he know he likes having a mustache?

I hope he finds out who he is soon, that would suck !

getcraziesout

7/8/2009 2:24:32 PM

I came to Boulder in October of 1980 and I worked at the Round The Corner at Crossroads for about 8 months. My manger's name was Mark Simpson. If this guy worked at one of those, he didn't work at the one I did. I wish I could help him but I don't recognize him.

Moosi, there have to be some old buried employment and payroll records for the 3 round the corner restaurants that were in Boulder. Do you remember who was their bookkeeper or accountant per chance ?

It might really help this guy !

jbird

7/8/2009 4:11:52 PM

I have NO IDEA. The management office for Round The Corner was located at 30th &..............been a while..........there used to be a small strip mall that had the Children's Museum, there was a piano place.............their office was THERE. By Crossroads. Long gone of course. That's all I know. I would guess there HAS to be some way to pull up names of employees for a business but RTC has been gone SO LONG it might be difficult. I worked at the Crossroads one from November 80 to about August or September of 81 and I don't recognize this guy. If he thinks he is about 60, that would have made him roughly 10 years older than me and all the people I worked with were quite young so he must have worked in one of the others.

Round The Corner was "RTC Enterprises" I THINK. Something like that. But the "RTC" I am SURE of. MAY have been "RTC Corp." But that would be the first place to look.

I feel for the guy. I wish I could give you more info but that's all I know. If I remember anything else I'll let ya know.

Good luck Benjamin.

Keep smilin'.

Moosi

7/8/2009 4:55:57 PM

jbird.

I found this.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3190/is_n20_v29/ai_16838157/

Moosi

7/8/2009 5:03:39 PM

So what I am finding is that Good Times either OWNS them or was an affiliate of RTC. So maybe go THERE and ask them for employee records of the defunct RTC chain. Maybe if you tell them WHY they will be willing to help Benjamin. That's my best guess. Let us know what you find out.

Moosi

7/8/2009 5:09:29 PM

All I know is that Round the Corner made a damn good burger.

Tripolar

7/8/2009 5:36:04 PM

jbird & Moosi - Just a thought. The IRS might have records with the names of the employees.

I worked at all three Boulder Round The Corner stores in the early 80s. Mark Simpson was a manager at CrossRoads and Table Mesa when I was there. He may have helped out at the Hill. He was about mid-twenty to early thirties at that time. Very good looking with a full head of dark hair and a mustache. Had a great singing voice also. Hard to say by that picture, since he was a much younger man then, but it could be him. None of the other managers looked even close. Steve Burris was another manager that worked with Mark and might have a better idea. Good Times is a spin off of RTC for sure, so the ownership group should have records from back in the day.

mhammett@silverplume.com

7/8/2009 9:04:44 PM

You former employees of RTC have some great ideas!

I hope that something works out.

InMyHumbleOpinion

7/8/2009 9:57:04 PM

NO....that isn't Mark Simpson. And NO WAY was he 10 years older than me. I was 21.....Mark mighta been 26 or 27. This guy thinks he is like 60, which would make him 10 yrs my senior. All the people I worked with at the Crossroads store were my age or younger. Mark was probably the oldest of all of us, but he wasn't THAT much older. I remember Mark quite well. You described him right. But Benjamin's facial features are not similar. I already considered that option and looked very close and that's not him. So we keep trying. I would like to see Benjamin find himself. I can't imagine being lost like that and why the hell hasn't someone in ALL THESE YEARS filed a Missing Persons Report. My guess is that SOMEONE HAS but you would have to look at the state records where he and his family came from and since we don't know that.........well, here we are again.

Hang in there Bejamin.

You will pleased to know that I found a website for RTC restaurants and someone has posted your article on there, hoping someone will know you. I hope you like who you find out you are. Ok, bad sentence, but you know what I mean. It would be SO bizarre to be your age and know NOTHING about who you are. There are still good people in this world and we are trying.

But think about it mhammett......I might know YOU! The name doesn't ring a bell, if that is your name. Too many years. I did the prep at the Crossroads store.

Moosi

7/8/2009 9:58:47 PM

BTW I just remembered running into Mark in 1983, a couple years after I left RTC, and he said he STILL worked there but they were tranferring him and his wife to Colorado Springs(I THINK) to run a store there and he would be leaving soon. That was about the time they tore down the old Crossroads RTC and put it in the mall. Never saw him again.

Just trying to remember as much as I can.

Moosi

7/8/2009 10:18:33 PM

Talk to us Benjamin....tell us what you think you know about the place. What did the RTC look like........they were all similar but still different in the configuration of the restaurant. If we can find out if it was the one on The Hill or in Table Mesa that would help. But in 80 and 81 you didn't work at the one at Crossroads. I remember names from there, fellow employees........Susan Frey.........Ron Donnelly...... and a cute little Oriental guy, forget his name, that worked at one of the used-record-places on the hill. Jonathan-something. That was the people I worked with. Does any of that ring a bell?

I wannt SO BAD to help you. But if you could tell us what you DO reflect on........it would help. ANYTHING. I feel like we are very close.

Moosi

7/9/2009 12:01:43 AM

Hi there, do you guys like dating cougars? Are you a cougar who's looking for a cub? No matter you are looking for a NSA or serious relationship, you can get what you want here:

==- http://www.cougarster.com -==

It's where cougars and younger men can meet(Cougar is the slang for woman who is mature, experienced and want to date with a younger man)!!!!!!!!!!

candicesheen

7/9/2009 7:29:45 AM

Well moosie, that is my current name and I'm sure if I knew your name we'd have a kick getting caught up - I also did prep. BTW-maybe it's Stormin Norman?? He was a district or regional guy - and I don't recall his last name, but he was around a lot. Didn't actually work in the stores but came by to coach the managers. I am not convinced this guy is really 60ish - maybe he's aged a bit faster. I know lots of 50-somethings that look a lot older.

mhammett@silverplume.com

7/11/2009 11:41:25 AM

moosie - missy?

mhammett@silverplume.com

7/11/2009 11:43:42 AM

ok here's another long shot. Steve Burris was 23 in 1979-80. He looked 30. He was on the short side, was balding and had a mustache, very hairy otherwise. I don't think his face was that long and narrow tho. He managed Table Mesa, always laughing and cutting up. I'm still not convinced this isn't Mark. Maybe they could 'un-age' his photo and let us see what he probably looked like then. That would help a lot.

mhammett@silverplume.com

7/11/2009 12:38:04 PM

check out this site for an age regression photo of Benjaman:

http://drphil.com/shows/show/1146/

He appeared on the Dr Phil show and it was aired in October and December of last year. The Dr's folks did the regression...

bluefairy2

7/14/2009 8:11:24 PM

Moosi, it is not Regional Manager Larry (Stormin) Norman. The cute little half chinese half hispanic guy is John Martinez who used to work at Trade-a-Tape on the Hill and played the base guitar. I cannot remeber the name of his band. Mhammett, I don't believe it is Steve (Evans Scholar)(Frodo) Burris. The amnesiac is approx. 5 foot 11 inches tall and about 245 pounds. Steve was about 5 foot 9 inches and weighed about 135 soaking wet. I doubt he grew that much. Who are you folks?

Boulder's Joey Airola wins in 106s at the Pepsi CenterThe nerves of steel for Boulder freshman Joey Airola didn't match the surroundings, let alone his circumstance. This state wrestling debut was a calm and collected masterpiece. Full Story

The Boulder alt-country band gives its EPs names such as Death and Resurrection, and its songs bear the mark of hard truths and sin. But the punk energy behind the playing, and the sense that it's all in good fun, make it OK to dance to a song like "Death." Full Story